Who or Whom?
20 September 2014 by Diane
To understand the difference between WHO and WHOM, you must first understand the difference between a SUBJECT and an OBJECT.
The subject of the sentence does the action, and the object of the sentence receives the action. If I call my dad, then I am the subject and my dad is the object.
We use WHOM to refer to the object of a sentence. We use WHO to refer to the subject of a sentence.
For example, we would say "Whom did you call?" because the answer is MY DAD, the object.
Here's a tip:
If you can answer the question being asked with "him," then use "whom.”
If you can answer the question being asked with “he,” then use “who.”
Watch Teacher Diane’s video on YouTube to learn more:
Common Collocations
14 August 2014 by Diane
have have a drink have a good time have a problem have a relationship have lunch/dinner have a headache have a drink have an argument / fight | do do business do nothing / something do someone a favor do the cooking / cleaning / laundry do the housework / dishes do the shopping do your best do your hair do your homework do a puzzle do a good job do fine | make make a difference make a mess make a mistake make a noise make progress make money / a profit make space / room make trouble make a change make plans / arrangements make a telephone call make a deal make an excuse make an offer / suggestion make a decision / choice make the bed make friends make breakfast / lunch make an exception make a cake / cup of coffee make the best of something make fun of make sense |
take take a break take a chance take a look take a seat take a taxi / bus take an exam take notes take one’s temperature take action take a number take a nap | break break a leg break a promise break a record break a window break someone’s heart break the ice break the law break the news to someone break the rules break a record | catch catch a ball catch a bus catch a cold / the flu catch a thief catch someone’s eye |
come come close come early come first come into view come last come late come on time come prepared come right back come to a compromise come to a decision come to an agreement come to an end come to a total of | go go abroad go bald go bankrupt go blind go crazy go deaf go fishing / hiking / sailing go mad go missing go on foot go online go out of business go overseas go to war | get get divorced get drunk get frightened get lost get married get permission get pregnant get ready get started get the impression get the message get upset get wet |
Soccer Expressions
06 July 2014 by Diane
Most Important Soccer Vocabulary
assist (verb/noun): to pass the ball that leads to the goal
ex. He had 2 goals and 1 assist in the match.
Attacker / Forward (noun): a player that makes an assertive or aggressive attempt to score
ex. Ronaldo, Messi and Robben are three of the best attackers in the world.
Corner kick (noun): a free kick from the corner of the field
ex. He always takes the corner kicks for his team.
Crossbar (noun): the horizontal bar between the posts
ex. The player shot the ball, and it hit off the crossbar.
Defender (noun): a player whose task is to protect the team’s goal.
ex. David Luiz is one of the best defenders in the world.
dive (verb): deliberately fall when challenged in order to deceive the referee into awarding a foul
ex. Some players are very talented at diving.
dribble (verb): take (the ball) forward past opponents with slight touches of the feet
ex. He attempted to dribble the ball across the entire field!
first touch (noun): the first contact the ball has with a player’s foot
ex: He has a great first touch.
Foul (noun): a penalty given for an unfair play against an opponent
ex. You should try not to foul the other team inside the box.
Goal (noun): a pair of posts linked by a crossbar with a net attached behind it
ex.. He scored two goals in the last match.
Goalkeeper / Goaltender / Goalie (noun): a player whose role is to stop the ball from entering the net
ex. The US goalie made 15 saves in the game against Belgium.
Goalpost (noun): the side of the goals
ex. The Netherlands hit the post three times against Costa Rica!
handball (noun): intentionally touching and redirecting the ball with the hand or arm, constituting a foul
ex. That was a handball!
Header (noun): a player hits the ball with his/her head
ex. He is really good at headers on corner kicks.
in the box: inside the 18-yard-box (the box just outside of the goal)
ex: He was fouled in the box!
Linesman (noun): an official who assists the referee or umpire from the sideline
ex. The linesman made a good call.
long ball (noun): a ball that is hit, kicked, or thrown a long way
ex. He is talented at sending long balls over the top.
Mark (noun): the specific player who you are responsible for guarding
ex. Everyone get a mark!
Midfielder (noun): the players on a team who play in a central position between attack and defense
ex. Our midfielders need to attack a lot in today’s game.
nutmeg (verb/noun): to pass the ball between the opponent’s legs
ex. He nutmegged the defender before taking a shot.
Offsides (adj): in the attacking half ahead of the ball and having fewer than two defenders between the attacker and the goal line at the moment the ball is played
ex. The linesman threw up his flag to show offsides.
on the bench: where the substitutes sit when they are not currently playing in the game
ex: He was on the bench for the whole game.
Overtime (noun): extra time played at the end of a game that is tied at the end of the regulation time
ex.. The games in the World Cup have 30 minutes of overtime, if they end in a tie.
own goal (adj+noun): scoring a goal against your own team
ex: The first goal in the World Cup was an own goal!
pass (verb): move or cause to move in a specified direction
ex. He passed the ball to his teammate.
Penalty kick (noun): a free kick at the goal from the penalty spot (which only the goalkeeper is allowed to defend), awarded to the attacking team after a foul within the penalty area by an opponent
ex.. The referee awarded the opponents a penalty kick after the foul in the box.
pitch / field (noun): the place where a soccer game is played
ex.. The players lined up on the pitch / field.
Punt (verb): kick (the ball) after it is dropped from the hands and before it reaches the ground
ex.: The goalie punted the ball across the field.
red card (ad j+ noun): a card shown to a player being eliminated from the game
ex. Because of his red card, his team had to play a man down for most of the match.
referee (noun): an official who watches a game or match closely to ensure that the rules are followed
ex. The referee made some terrible calls.
Score (verb/noun): gain a point
ex. He scored a hat trick (a hat trick is three goals)!
Set piece (noun): a thing that has been carefully planned
ex. That team is really good at set pieces.
Shoot (verb): kick the ball in an attempt to score a goal
ex. He shoots and scores! GOALLLLLLLL!
Shootout (noun): a tiebreaker decided by each side taking a specified number of penalty kicks
ex. The Netherlands won the game in a shootout!
Shutout (noun): a competition or game in which the losing side fails to score
ex. The game ended in a shutout.
Sliding tackle (adj + noun) : make an effort to steal the ball by sliding on the ground with one leg extended
ex. The referee called a foul against the defender for doing a dangerous sliding tackle.
stoppage time / injury time (noun): extra time added at the end of each half to compensate for the time lost dealing with injuries
ex. Most halves have about four minutes of stoppage time.
substitute (verb / noun): a player who replaces another player during the game / to use in place of
ex: Referee, I’d like to make a substitution!
Trap (verb / noun): to stop the ball
ex. He trapped the ball with his right foot and immediately took a shot.
yellow card (noun): a card shown to a player being cautioned
ex. He got a yellow card in the first minute of the match.
Soccer Idioms
a game changer – a situation that can have a dramatic effect on something
ex: Learning English could be a real game changer in your career.
to be on the ball – to be aware of what is happening all around you
ex: You need to be on the ball in this job.
to watch from the sidelines – to be an observer, rather than actively involved in something
ex: Don’t just watch from the sidelines. Do something!
to kick something off – to start something
ex: “I’d like to kick this meeting off by welcoming our guest speaker.
at this stage in the game – at this point
ex: I don’t think there is anything we can do at this stage in the game.
to take sides – to support one person or cause against another or others in a dispute or contest
ex: I refuse to take sides in this argument.
a game plan – a strategy worked out in advance
ex: We have to come up with a good game plan if we want to beat the competition.
give it one’s best shot – try one’s hardest
ex: I don’t know whether or not I can do it, but I’m going to give it my best shot!
American vs British English
14 June 2014 by Diane
American English is the form of English used in the United States. You might be familiar with this form of English from American movies and music.
British English is the form of English used in the United Kingdom, and some other countries such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa...
American and British English have some differences in pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, spelling and idioms.
(http://themetapicture.com/american-vs-british-english/)
Let’s learn about some of the differences...
SPELLING DIFFERENCES
- Most words ending in –our in British English (such as: colour, flavuor, harbour, honour, humour, labour, neighbor, rumour) end in –or in American English (color, flavor, harbor, honor, humor, labor, neighbor, rumor)
- In British English some words end in –re, while in American English these words end in –er. For example, centre, litre, metre, theatre all end in –er in American English.
- British spelling often uses –ise or -se when American spelling uses –ize or -ce (ex. Organise / organize, realise / realize, recognise / recognize, licence / license, practise / practice, etc..)
- British English doubles consonants more often than American English (ex. Cancelled, counsellor, labelled, modelling, travelling, traveller…). American English does not always double the consonant (ex. Canceled, counselor, cruelest, labeled, modeling, traveling, traveler, etc…)
- British english sometimes keeps the letter “e” when adding suffixes to words, while American English does not (ex. likeable / likable, liveable / livable, sizeable / sizable, loveable / lovable)
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences)
PREPOSITION DIFFERENCES
- The British play IN a team, while Americans play ON a team.
- The British go out AT the weekend, while Americans go out ON the weekend.
- The British spend time with their families AT Christmas, while Americans spend time with their families ON Christmas.
GRAMMAR DIFFERENCES
- In British English the present perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an affect on the present moment. For example: I've lost my wallet.
In American English, the use of the past tense can be used in this situation: I lost my wallet. - In American English, collective nouns are almost always singular (ex. The team IS, The government WAS, The committee HAS…). In British English, collective nouns can be followed by either singular or plural verb forms.
PHRASAL VERB DIFFERENCES
American: GET ALONG WITH
British: GET ON
* Have or establish a friendly relationship with someone.
American: RAINED OUT
British: RAINED OFF
* When an outdoor event is postponed or interrupted by rain.
HOOK UP
American: to engage in sexual activity—usually implies more than kissing or “making out.”
British: to meet or begin to work with another person or other people
KNOCK UP
American: to impregnate (make pregnant)
British: to wake someone with a knock on the door; to warm up before a tennis match
WASH UP
American: wash hands and face
British: wash dishes after a meal
American Word | British Word |
bathroom counter-clockwise crib detour drugstore elevator fall french fries garbage gas guy highway line mail pacifier robe round-trip schedule sneakers soccer stove stroller subway truck undershirt vacation windshield | toilet note engaged ring biscuit anti-clockwise cot diversion nappy chemist lift rubber autumn torch thongs chips rubbish petrol bloke motorway queue post maths cinema / film dummy trousers car park crisps dressing gown return timetable pavement trainers football cooker pram / push chair underground lorry boot vest holiday windscreen |
Punctuation Marks
01 June 2014 by Diane
Comma ,
Commas are used to separate items on a list.
I went to the shop and bought some apples, oranges, and bananas.
Commas are also used to separate clauses and are often found before conjunctions.
My mom liked the movie, but it didn’t get good reviews.
Commas are used to separate a non-defining relative clause from the rest of the sentence.
The students who passed the test had a party.
Some students passed the test, and some students failed the test. Only the students who passed the test had a party.
The students, who passed the test , had a party.
All the students passed the test. All the students had a party.
If you use a conjunction followed by a new subject, you need to use a comma.
Period .
The period marks the end of the sentence that contains a statement.
My name is Diane.
Question Mark ?
The question mark marks the end of the sentence that contains a question.
How are you?
Exclamation Mark !
The exclamation mark marks the end of a sentence that contains an expression of strong feeling.
We won the game!
Colon :
The colon indicates that what follows is an explanation or elaboration.
There was only one possible explanation: he had missed the bus.
Colons can be used to introduce lists.
The US government has three branches: the legislative, the executive and the judicial.
Semi-colon ;
The semi-colon is often used to separate two clauses when a coordinating conjunction is not used. Sometimes it is used in place of a period. We use this when we have two complete sentences that are very closely related.
It was cold, so she wore a jacket. → It was cold; she wore a jacket.
It was raining. However, she went to the beach. → It was raining; however, she went to the beach.
Apostrophe ‘
The apostrophe is used to show a contraction or possession.
These are the students’ books. My dad’s favorite food is pizza.
Be careful-- we don’t use an apostrophe to show possession with “it.”
ex. The dog ate its bone.
Dash —
The dash is most commonly used in formal writing, similar to colons, semicolons and brackets.
My father-- a man who has worked hard for the past 20 years-- was recently laid off.
Hyphen -
Hyphens are used to form compound words.
I am involved in the day-to-day running of the office.
“Quotation Marks ”
Quotation marks are put around quoted, spoken or written language.
“I’d like to go to a nice restaurant,” she said.
“Where’s the house?” he asked.
( Brackets or Parentheses )
Brackets are put around material that we want to include as extra information.
The boy I met on the bus (I can’t remember his name) was really nice.
Forward Slash /
A forward slash is used to show alternatives.
Answer yes/no to the following questions.
Ellipsis …
Ellipsis can be used to indicate an incomplete thought in writing.
I love sweets: chocolate, cake, cookies, brownies...
Ellipsis is also used to show the place in a passage where words have been omitted. If an extract is taken from a longer piece of writing, ellipsis can be used to indicate the missing sections of writing.
